U.S. DEPARTMENT of JUSTICE CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION FY 2020 Performance Budget ICATION JUSTIF CONGRESSIONAL
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ICATION U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION FY 2020 Performance Budget CONGRESSIONAL JUSTIF CONGRESSIONAL TABLE OF CONTENTS I. CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION OVERVIEW ..................................................................................... 2 II. SUMMARY OF PROGRAM CHANGES ................................................................................. 19 III. APPROPRIATIONS LANGUAGE & ANALYSIS OF APPROPRIATIONS LANGUAGE ..................... 19 IV. PROGRAM ACTIVITY JUSTIFICATION ................................................................................. 19 A. Civil Rights Division Decision Unit .................................................................................................... 19 1. Program Description ...................................................................................................................... 19 2. Performance and Resource Tables ................................................................................................ 21 3. Performance, Resources, and Strategies ....................................................................................... 22 V. APPENDIX ...................................................................................................................... 38 VI. EXHIBITS ......................................................................................................................... 42 A. Organizational Chart B. Summary of Requirements C. FY 2020 Program Changes by Decision Unit (not applicable) D. Resources by DOJ Strategic Goal/Objective E. Justification for Technical and Base Adjustments F. Crosswalk of 2018 Availability G. Crosswalk of 2019 Availability H. Summary of Reimbursable Resources I. Detail of Permanent Positions by Category J. Financial Analysis of Program Changes (not applicable) K. Summary of Requirements by Object Class 1 I. CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION OVERVIEW The Civil Rights Division (Division or CRT) at the Department of Justice (Department) protects the civil and constitutional rights of all people in this country, enforcing the Constitution and federal laws of the United States in pursuit of our founding ideals – human dignity, equal justice, and equal opportunity for all. Toward that end, we strive to advance three key principles: o Protecting the most vulnerable among us by ensuring that all in America can live free from fear of violence, discrimination, and exploitation; o Safeguarding the fundamental infrastructure of democracy; and o Expanding opportunity for all people by advancing the opportunity to learn, earn a living, live where one chooses, and worship freely in one's community. To continue these efforts, in FY 2020 the Division requests a total of $153,223,000 to fund 608 positions including 371 attorneys to protect, defend, and advance civil rights in our nation. This budget submission strives to provide detailed information and guidance to assist Congress in evaluating the Division’s FY 2020 funding request. This submission includes an overview of the Division’s work, priority areas for the 2020 fiscal year, and describes justifications for the various program activities. Throughout this document, the Division illustrates its work with examples. While these examples aim to convey the impact, scope, and approach of the Division’s efforts in a comprehensive manner, they do not document the entirety of its efforts. CIVIL RIGHTS PRIORITIES IN FY 2020 For over sixty years, the Division has played a unique and critical role in protecting civil rights in America. Today, the Division has a robust caseload that serves as a stark reminder that discrimination continues to be a reality for many people. The Division’s work has evolved over six decades as Congress has expanded civil rights protections for Americans and given the Division new authority to enforce those civil rights laws. Beginning in 1964, the Civil Rights Act established landmark protections against discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, and religion. The Civil Rights Act built the groundwork for other critical federal civil rights statutes passed by Congress, including the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Fair Housing Act of 1968, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, and the Shepard- Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009. 2 The Division also plays a leading role in enforcing the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000 and its subsequent reauthorizations, which expanded on the older involuntary servitude and slavery statutes the Division has historically enforced. In FY 2020, the Division will prioritize several enforcement areas that align with Administration and Department priorities. The Division will also prioritize new enforcement initiatives that it has developed to address long-standing and troubling civil rights violations. Finally, the Division will prioritize innovation initiatives designed to improve the way the Division operates and serves the public. o Prosecuting hate crimes; o Prosecuting human traffickers and dismantling transnational organized trafficking networks; o Combatting unlawful hiring practices against U.S. workers; o Enforcing federal laws that protect servicemembers, veterans, and their families; o Ensuring the religious freedom of individuals and religious organizations; o Ensuring that individuals have access to treatment for opioid addiction; o Combatting sexual harassment and sexual abuse; o Working to eliminate racial discrimination; and, o Improving Division operations to promote efficiency and improve service to the public. PROSECUTING HATE CRIMES The Division continues to aggressively combat hate crimes – violent and intimidating acts such as beatings, murders, or cross-burnings – that target an individual because of his or her race, color, national origin, religious beliefs, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability. Over the past ten years, the Department of Justice has charged more than 200 defendants with hate crimes offenses. Since January 2017, the Department has indicted 27 defendants involved in committing hate crimes. During that same time, the Department has obtained convictions of 25 defendants involved in committing hate crimes. Hate crimes prosecutions are often extremely high-profile with their impact being felt nationally and sometimes internationally. Since January 2017, the Division’s hate crimes prosecutors have handled a number of high-profile investigations and cases, including cases in Charlottesville, Virginia, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Louisville, Kentucky. 3 Charlottesville, Virginia: On At the Department of Justice, we remain resolute that June 27, 2018, a federal grand hateful ideologies will not have the last word and that their jury sitting in the U.S. District adherents will not get away with violent crimes against Court for the Western District of those they target. Last summer’s violence in Charlottesville Virginia in Charlottesville cut short a promising young life and shocked the nation. charged James Alex Fields, Jr. Today’s indictment should send a clear message to every with federal hate crimes, would-be criminal in America that we aggressively including a hate crime act that prosecute violent crimes of hate that threaten the core resulted in the death of Heather principles of our nation. Heyer, for his actions during the ATTORNEY GENERAL, JEFF SESSIONS JUNE 27, 2018 Aug. 12, 2017 “Unite the Right Rally” in Charlottesville. The charges against Fields include one count of a hate crime act resulting in the death of Heather Heyer and 28 counts of hate crime acts causing bodily injury and involving an attempt to kill. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Robert Bowers was charged with 44 federal counts, including obstruction of free exercise of religious beliefs resulting in death for an attack that occurred on the Sabbath at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in October 2018. On January 29, 2019, a federal grand jury sitting in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania charged Bowers with additional federal hate crimes and firearms offenses for his conduct during the shootings. According to the indictment, the shootings occurred on October 27, 2018, when Bowers entered the Tree of Life Synagogue with multiple firearms and stated his desire to “kill Jews.” Bowers killed eleven worshippers, and injured two other members of the congregations and five law enforcement officers. Jeffersontown, Kentucky: On November 15, 2018, Gregory A. Bush, 51, was charged with federal hate crimes and firearm violations for the October 24, 2018, murder of an African-American man and woman and the attempted murder of a third person at a Kroger grocery store in Jeffersontown, Kentucky. The indictment charges Bush with committing these crimes of violence because of the victims’ race and color. Calling the crimes “horrific,” Attorney General Matthew Whitaker stated: “We cannot and will not tolerate violence motivated by racism. We will bring the full force of the law against these and any other alleged hate crimes against fellow Americans of any race.” Based on the FBI’s latest Uniform Crime Statistics Report, issued in November 2017 for calendar year 2016, there were 6,063 single-bias incidents reported involving 7,227 offenses, 7,509 victims, and 5,727 known offenders, and 58 multiple-bias incidents reported involving 94 offenses, 106 victims, and 43 known offenders. State and local officials investigate and prosecute many hate crimes. Therefore, the Department seeks new ways to assist state